should EVERY CHILD in the UK LEARN a FOREIGN LANGUAGE??? give REASONS for your ANSWER!!!!?

Answer 1

No not EVERY child.Some children don't have the ability.If someone is struggling with their own language ,maths etc what is the point of wasting say 5 years trying to teach them a foreign language when at the end of the 5 years all they can manage is
"My name is John." "I have brown hair." I like football." etc.Better to improve their English instead.
The children who are bright/fairly bright should gain a lot from learning a foreign language or even more than one.
Teach them say French in the first two years ,see if they have the aptitude then if they have carry on and add more ;if they haven't let them drop it.

Answer 2

This is exactly what our education authorities have been trying to do for decades and have failed. A second language of choice, can be a significant advantage.

Sorry to say I only do England and that only moderately well [lets say average standard].

I heard of a Welsh bloke back in the 19th century, of the Working Class, who managed to learn 35 languages, none of which was English. His own first language was Welsh. This is very unlikely to be repeated today.

I heard that many schools in England are starting to teach Mandarin Chinese, but not sure how widespread this might be. It used to be the case back in the 1950s that they taught French in the Grammar Schools. My lot, the Secondary Modern brigade got taught nuffink!

On the whole I think learning a second language is a good idea. Visit Holland and you'll see what I mean. Nearly everyone speaks English as a second language, same thing in most Scandinavian countries and also in Denmark. Why? Mainly because people of these countries in the past had a leading role in the making of the English language. Remember all those Danish kings?

Answer 3

Definitely, I live in Spain and in general the English are deplorably bad when it comes to learning the language. There seems to be a deep routed psychology that learning languages is just not what we do. OK that doesn't apply to everybody by any means but it's very common. I know people who have lived and worked here for 20 years or more and still don't speak Spanish. Part of the problem is that English is so widely spoken, much of the world feels it is there duty to learn English and yet we don't share that sense of duty to learn anybody elses language. Perhaps because the question would be what language. English is universal agreed to be the most useful, but we already speak that, so what? Personally I'd go for Spanish, for obvious reasons, but it is very widely spoken as well. Though where I lived in the UK Urdu would have been a useful one.

Answer 4

I think those who are found to be average to good with languages, or those bad who wish to try should be able to learn them. There are various problems though, for instance some children (and indeed some adults) are terrible even with English spelling, grammar and pronunciation and would find a foreign language difficult. Another problem is that no schools would be able to agree on what languages to teach, even in this answers thread about four different languages have been suggested with even more mentioned. If you start learning early, it should be continuous through from primary to at least secondary school without changing which language is learnt.

Answer 5

Yes. There are 700 reasons - see for yourself! And you can see from several other testimonies here how people have benefited from learning a foreign language.

I doubt there is a good reason to say otherwise. Disabilities can be overcome with tailored support and the fact their English might not be perfect does not constitute in itself a reason not to, just says they need extra support in their first language too - foreign language teaching is different anyway. And I don't believe one has to be "gifted" to learn a foreign language either, just find the right combination of teaching style, learning style, motivation and resources.

Answer 6

yes they should, but you have to have a good standard of teacher, i learnt french from age 5 to 15 and could not hold a conversation, looking back at old reports my teachers said i did not have an aptitude for languages. I am 40 now and started travelling when i was 18, I now speak fluently Thai, Chinese, Malay, Tagalog I get by enough to order food ask for directions hold basic conversations in German, Spanish, (learnt french last year) My son is seven and learning Mandarin as a second Language but he lives in Singapore and see's and hears it all around him problem with UK you learn for an hour a week and then do not use again till next lesson. When working with travel guides in Thailand we would have a Thai Night or an English night when we would speak only one language to encourage each other. More would be needed to encourage kids to speak out of the classroom if they are ever going to learn, european student get to hear english all the time through songs and movies so stays sharp in there brain

Answer 7

there is the question of whether the level that the school teaches the language at is high enough to be worthwhile; certainly when i learned a language not too long ago, the level was certainly not high enough to allow anything above the most basic conversation between me and french people; 'bonjour' is about the limit of useful language taught. From there schools tend to dive straight into learning all those verbs and how to say our school timetable in french; neither of which were really beneficial.

In conclusion; languages should only be taught if they teach standard phrases that the student would actually find useful if visiting the foreign country on holiday.

Answer 8

without doubt every child in the UK should learn if not one, then preferably two foreign languages.

I currently live in Luxembourg, and here 90% of shoolchildren are fluent in 3 languages (Luxembourgish, French, German) by the time they start secondary school, and fluent in English by school leaving age.

The benefits are that all these children can work and communicate in a multicultural, multilingual and more globalised world...it would enhance confidence and communication between cultures and people of different nations.

There is no good excuse why the British education system cannot work that way, teaching at leat one foreigh language from the age of 4, and 2 from the age of 6. The only reason is the investment hasn't been made before.

Anyone who can speak a foreign language is better off in the job marketplace too.

Even someone who has no education certificates, or skills, and can only work in a factory or a warehouse - someone like that can go and easily get a job in France if their command of the language is good enough ...

Look how many EU citizens are able to come and get good jobs in England because they speak reasonable English (Poles anyone?)

The numbers of English people who can go and get work in Germany, Spain, or France is far fewer...

One more benefit - if you speak 2 or 3 languages, you can woo women in 2 or 3 languages :)

Philip

Answer 9

It must be recognised that not every child is gifted in languages. Some have a pronounced mathematical bent. However, I do believe that children in the UK should be made aware that not everyone speaks English.
I can give you two examples: Once, on a camping site in France, when we were travelling in a very low powered car, an English guy came to us and asked us if we could tow his car, since it wouldn't start. He added, 'They're all foreigners here.' When I pointed out to him that the other campers were French and we were the foreigners, he simply didn't understand.
On the other occasion, my nieces came to Switzerland one summer. Swiss and English holidays do not coincide and the eldest went to school with my eldest daughter. When they came home at mid-day, I asked my niece what she thought of the school. Her reply: 'They speak funny.'

In the first case, I was able to find someone to tow the guy's car to a garage, explain the problem to the mechanic and finally get him on his way.

In the second case, when my niece married, she and her husband decided to 'leave England for good,' and were amazed that they could not find work in the south of France, although neither of the spoke any other language apart from English. They turned up on our doorstep in Switzerland with a camper van which was on its last legs, a dog, which at the time they couldn't take back to the UK without shelling out for quarantine and my niece was pregnant, without adequate health insurance. My husband fixed the car and we took custody of the dog.

In Australia I sent my daughter to German school on Saturdays, so she would not forget what she had already learned. She was the only child at the school who did not have at least one native German speaking parent, and she was the only child who could converse in German. Now that's a criminal waste of a precious gift.
My 'step' grandchild is 28 months old and can already make herself understood in Turkish and German.

Certainly, if you have the oportunity, for instance as a bilingual family, then make use of this. The second foreign language is much easier, because the concept of different languages is already present.

Answer 10

I think so. Remember that when you learn a language, you get in contact with the culture it serves, and I think that's very important in this xenophobic world. For example, I used to be suspicious of the English speaking cultures, mainly for historical reasons (imperialism being among the most important ones), but by learning the language, I came to love it, and therefore, by extension, I sort of reconciled with the culture ( I don't know if this last expression is correct). The cultures that rendered a Shakespeare, a Dickens, a Joyce,and, on the other side of the ocean, a Whitman, a Fitzgerald, a Hemingway (to give just a few examples), will always have my respect.

Answer 11

I'm a language teacher, and my answer to this would be that MOST children in the UK should learn a foreign language. Some children however have enough problems with English for varying reasons, and due to specific learning difficulties. The time spent trying to get them to take on board a foreign language would be better spent assisting them to gain better literacy skills in English. I live in France, and often come across my fellow Brits when they are on holiday, and it is a shame to see them not even attempting a simple "hello" or "thank you" in French, or worse still, thinking that by speaking very loudly they will be miraculously be understood. Brits who make an effort in French are immediately better welcomed and make a more favourable impression. Kids should be encouraged at an earlier age to take on board languages, which is more difficult as one gets older.